True to the Heart
by rainismysunshine
Summary: Every person in the world is said to have exatly one soul mate, not more and not less. Winry gave her soulmate up many years ago, but now she's presented with another chance. EdxWinry? Read and find out...
1. Chapter 1

"**Happy birthday Winry!" Rayne exclaimed saving her gift for after everyone else ad left. She quickly led Winry up to her bedroom and closed the door. **

"**Okay Winry," she said, "turn around three times and make a wish…whatever your heart desires."**

**Winry began to spin around as Rayne clapped her hands and…**

"**True to the Heart"**

It was Edward and Alphonse's last remaining night in their hometown of Risembool. Once again, they had been forced to make an unannounced visit to the house of their childhood friend and mechanic, Winry Rockbell for the fact that Edward had yet again broken his well-built automail. The days had passed by as days normally did during the Elric's short, unexpected, and spaced out visits. The two elder teenagers spent a majority of their time locked in vast yet pointless arguments in which the youngest of the three, Alphonse, would pray for an end.

Al sighed as he helped Pinako tidy the kitchen; the voices of Edward and Winry still clearly heard from the upper floor of the Rockbell home. Pinako looked up at the looming armor and, as if reading his mind, guided him to a more quiet resting place as the his brother and Pinako's granddaughter continued with their never-ending battle.

"You're just a stupid automail mechanic!! What do you know?!?"

"At least I don't burry my nose in those pointless alchemy books all the time!!!!!"

"Automail otaku!!!!"

"Alchemy freak!!!!"

"You know, if you wouldn't waste your life on something so stupid, you might be useful!!!" Ed yelled cruelly, releasing every emotion that he has kept bottled up for at least a year. He would never be able to understand why Winry was so obsessed with the pointless knowledge of automail. It was the only thing that she ever talked about, read about, and practiced, and even taught. He was so sick of it.

'_At least I have a good reason for my determination in the fields of alchemy,'_ he thought to himself, still refusing to admit his love for the science as an obsession itself. Lost in his own thoughts, Edward hadn't realized that the screaming had ceased. He looked up at Winry to rub it in her face that he had finally won the argument when he was stopped by an odd sight. Winry stood before him, looking off into the distance with a dark sparkle in her deep sapphire orbs and a clenched fist at her side.

She continued staring at the ground for at least five minutes or so before making direct eye contact with Edward. The moment their line of vision connected, it was as if the whole world had ceased its spinning. Everything around the two halted. The world around them seemed to warm up, thawing their cold hearts. Neither of them moved, blinked, or even breathed for what seemed like eternity.

Winry was the first to break the amazing connection between the two by quickly averting her eyes to the cold floor below her. Whatever had just been in occurrence was amazing and indescribable. For once in her life, Winry felt like Ed might actually have realized how much Pinako and Winry herself cared about the reckless brothers. She thought that maybe; just maybe; this would be the time that they decided to stay. Winry spent every moment thinking about them; praying they were alive and yet the only thing Edward even cared about when he returned to Risembool was repairing his shattered automail and getting out the door faster than the last visit. Winry had hoped that this time was different; that Ed would just leave well enough alone and decide to settle down in Risembool once more…like old times.

Yet somehow, Winry knew that all of these thoughts were in vain. Edward had a promise to keep, and he was in no way about to break it. What made Winry the angriest, though, was not that he left to keep his promises. It was that he broke one of the promises by leaving. Winry had finally gained enough anger boiling within her to spit out the words that had been on her mind for quite some time.

"You…shouldn't be talking," she hissed at him, "You're the one who's so buried in your stupid alchemy that you can't even see what's standing in front of you…" she finished with clenched teeth before nonchantily shoving him out of the way and making her way to the door. Ed decided to let her go, fed up with her ways.

"Who cares about her anyways?" he murmured angrily.


	2. Chapter 2

A/n: Hi! Yeah…the chapters will get longer, I promise…but I need reviews!!! tempts with cookies Seriously, I've already written the whole thing. I'm in no hurry to post . 

Winry watched, unnoticed, from an upstairs window as her two close friends walked down the dirt path in the opposite direction of where she currently stood.

'If only they were coming towards me instead of walking away…' she thought sadly as tears began welling up in her icy blue eyes. She quickly turned away from the window, balling her frail hand into a tight fist. 

"I don't them…" she said loudly and angrily as she closed the curtain, "I COULD CARE LESS!!!" and with that she shut and locked the door to her small, dark room; her body collapsing on the floor from exhaustion and depression. She tried to pull herself back to her feet, but her eyelids were becoming too heavy and her muscles becoming too weak…

Edward got off of the train at Central HQ, where he and Alphonse were greeted by a bubbly Rose. Edward sighed as he kissed her on the cheek and whispered a quick "I missed you" in her ear. Rose giggled and looked up at Ed with playful eyes. Al sighed as he snuck towards Roy and Riza's office to give the two lovers some alone time. In all truth and honesty, Al smelled something fishy about the couple. It had always been the tone in his brother's voice when he saw his Liorian "love." Al had noticed that Edward had never put a lot of enthusiasm in his relationship with Rose. He always seemed to be thinking about something else. Of course, Al would never be able to mention this thought of his to Edward, for Al greatly valued his life. Ed was a locked book of secrets, anyways; so getting him to admit to anything was about as possible as pigs flying…or maybe Winry doing alchemy.

Ed smirked as he pulled a giggly Rose into his military dorm and locked the door. He quickly closed the curtain and slid his shoes off before walking over to Rose and pulling her into a lustful kiss. Rose parted her lips to allow him entrance into her mouth. Ed took the opportunity to nonchantily deepen the kiss. As he did so, Rose wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, pulling him as close to herself as humanly possible. Ed stood almost like a dead tree, showing no sign of passion or love. He had never been able to love Rose, or anyone in this way, for that matter. Something always stopped his heart and pulled him away; destinies fate taking hold of his soul. Rose finally broke the kiss for air; still blind to the fact that Edward wasn't completely present, oblivious as she was.

Later that night… 

Ed lay shirtless by a no longer giddy Rose. She carelessly ran her fingers across his well-defined chest and sadly looked up into his golden eyes, only to find him staring into the distance.

"Edward…" she cooed softly, bringing him back to the current world. Ed looked down at her and smiled distantly, pulling her closer to his warm body. Rose sighed as she gently laid her head on his chest, her magenta hair falling all around him. Hoping she had finally opened his heart, she looked up to find him staring into the abyss of darkness and night that surrounded them once again. Rose looked away and sighed, slowly falling asleep in his seemingly unwanting arms.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/n: Next chapter…longer as promised. If I don't get reviews, don't expect updates!!!!**

She let her now raven hair hang over her face so that no one could see the hate that glared in her cold blue eyes. Her black nail polish covered the maroon of dried blood under the nails that had caused the swelling red marks on the wrists covered by her thick black turtleneck. Her world had gone black, and she just didn't care. She now walked down the winding dusty road as the sun set into the mountains on the far horizon. She sighed angrily as everyone that she once trusted to be friendly turned away as if ashamed to admit who she was; while once upon a time she had been their smiling face. She had given her life to the pits of darkness that now overwhelmed her. They all called her by a new name: her. As far as they were concerned, she no longer deserved anything better. She didn't care, though. She'd lost everyone she'd ever needed and nothing really mattered anymore.

She walked back towards her home and opened the door to a now-silent place, no longer needing to announce her presence. She picked up two blood red roses and carelessly through the back door open as she hurried to the cemetery standing bitter and almost inviting next to her house. She laid one rose on the grave of Trisha Elric as she had done once a week since the day the Elric mother had passed on. The lonely teen then turned to a fresher grave and let mascara tears slide their sludged look and puddle onto her torn black shirt, a few missing and hitting the grave. One could tell that the teen came often, for there were trails of black water lines over the freshly carved name Pinako Rockbell. The pained teen gently set her rose at the base of the grave before blowing it a short kiss and slowly turning to leave. The piece of paper that fluttered in the wind as it quickly detached itself from the rose was so simple that it could have been easily overlooked.

Dear Granny,  
I'm coming so wait up…

Love,

Winry

Al sighed uneasily, his young voice echoing through the empty armor, which held his soul. He watched as his older brother threw a few pair of wrinkled clothes nonchantily into their old, battered suitcase. After a few minutes of waiting for at least a mutter from his older brother, Alphonse decided to speak up.

"Brother," he said, trying not to show the anger in his voice, "You don't have to hide things from me…"

"I'm fine," Ed mumbled melodramatically, as if there was nothing worth caring about. He finished packing and quickly shut and locked the suitcase. Absent-mindedly, he laid it beside the door of the Elric's small military dorm before sitting on the bed and beginning to put his shoes on. Al's anger level began to rise steadily until he finally burst and smacked his brother across the face. Ed fell to the ground and stared up at his younger brother in pure shock.

"What the hell was that for!?!" Edward screamed angrily, still unable to rise to his feet. To the renowned alchemist's surprise, his younger brother fought back.

"DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME THAT NOTHING IS WRONG!!! YOU WERE IN THIS ROOM FOR A WEEK AFTER ROSE LEFT! YOU WOULDN'T EVEN GET OUT OF THE DAMN BED! THEN YOU HAVE THE FREAKIN NERVE TO ACCEPT A HIGHLY DANGEROUS MISSION ON YOUR OWN WITHOUT EVEN TELLING ME!!!" Al calmed himself a bit before sighing and looking down at his guilt-stricken brother. "Brother…" he started again, "look at yourself. You can barely move. There HAS to be something wrong."

Ed clenched and unclenched his fist, still sitting on the ground as Al slowly turned away.

"I just want you to be okay, Brother…" he said softly before walking out the door and gently closing it behind him. Ed remained on the ground, staring up at the now closed door. His cheek was slightly swollen from where Al had given him a well-deserved smack. Ed winced as Al's last words echoed continuously in his mind. Guilt began to wash over him, but he knew he couldn't talk to Al about it because he wasn't sure what exactly "it" was. Sighing in frustration, the young alchemist weakly lifted himself to his feet, grabbed his suitcase, and walked out the door; his thoughts still haunting him as he silently made his way down the long hall.

"I hope I did this right," Winry confided in the dark air around her as she finished up her last piece of chalk on the humungous array that covered the floor. It was already deep into the night, and the weather outside painted a grim picture as seemingly endless storms soaked the horizon. Winry quickly stripped off her turtleneck and stood shivering in her black tube top and miniskirt. She slowly uncapped the black pen in her ever-so-eager right hand and precisely began to trace an array onto her nervous body; making certain that the thunder wouldn't disrupt her exactness. When her master array was complete, she took a final glance around the dark and empty workroom before gently placing her hands against the array on the ground and standing in the center of it.

Much to her surprise, the room lit up with an eerie yellow-purple glow that quickly engulfed her entire body. An enormous brown gate-like door appeared in front of her and stood looming over the frightened teen. Winry watched it nervously, expecting it to disappear, but instead, its doors flew open and hundreds of tiny black hands reached out of the blinding darkness within the abyss-like gate and latched themselves onto the wide-eyed Winry. Frightened and shocked, Winry fought against the hands of fate, watching as their "claws" grabbed her exposed skin and ripped at it in a merciless and bloodthirsty manner. Winry screamed again as she watched the blood spill onto the floor and felt herself losing consciousness. As her body became too weak to fight, the hands overpower her and pulled her into the darkness. Moments before the doors slammed shut, a small whisper was heard.

"Edward…" she said weakly as an enormous jolt of thunder drowned out her words.

Roy caught Edward in the hall, sighing a quick sigh of relief.

"Edward…" he said lowly, a small amount of sadness in his stern voice, "There's been a change in plans. Someone has apparently attempted human transmutation in your hometown of Risembool. We think it might be best for you to head the investigation, seeing as you're familiar with the sight as well as the situation," Roy lowered his head, hoping that Ed would obey for once.

Ed stood lost in thought; trying desperately to remember anyone in Risembool who had obtained an alchemy interest beside him and Alphonse. When no names came to mind, he decided that he didn't have anything to lose. Though his memory of the transmutation and sin that him and his younger brother had committed would be rough when it returned, he knew that, as long as he had not been acquainted with the person, he could bury the pain in his vast mind. Sighing, he looked up at Mustang and gave him a brief, "I accept." Roy nodded and led Ed down the opposite side of the hall.

"I assume that you want Alphonse to stay here?" the Colonel asked nonchantily. Ed nodded. His younger brother had been through a lot in his lifetime and Ed didn't want to resurrect his brother's gruesome memories as well. Ed bit down on his lower lip to cease the tears from forming in his golden eyes. He felt horrible for leaving Al in such a broken mood, but he had no choice. This opportunity could also give the younger Elric some time to cool off before dealing with his big brother again. All in all, Ed believed that leave Al in Central was the wisest choice.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/n: I've had many reviews that have given suggestions and I wanted to thank all of you for those. I think the biggest concern right now is the seperation between sections in the story. I am extremely sorry that hey haven't been working and I will force them to appear this time.**

**Second of all, I've had some questions about story details. To answer all questions:**

**This story takes place in the anime world about midway or so through the series.**

**Winry learned alchemy (as it states) from the old alchemy books of Edward's that she saved as a memoir of him.**

**Uhm…I can't change any main plot lines and I'm sorry for any mistakes because, as I've said, I wrote this story a year ago…I'm just now putting it up. ******

**I love the reviews! ARIGATO!!!!!**

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"Edward…" she mumbled lazily as a blond-hair sapphire-eyed boy stood over her, filled with curiosity. He lightly tapped on her shoulder before noticing that she wasn't waking up.

"WINRY!" he called joyously as she shot up, her eyes wide with shock. Alfons fell to the ground in pure laughter as Winry smacked him upside the head.

"Ow…what was that for?" he asked playfully; tears streaming down his face from the previous laughter attack.

"You know very well what that was for!!!" Winry yelled angrily before being pulled onto Alfons and succumbing to laughter herself.

"Now tell me…" Al said as he wrapped his arm around Winry, who laid her head gently on his chest, "…" Winry looked at him worriedly as he went into a short coughing fit.

"Alfons," she said sadly as tears formed in her eyes. Al's coughing ceased and, seeing Winry's worry, he pulled her closer to himself.

"It'll be okay. I'll get better; I promise…" he said supportively. Winry nodded as the pools of tears once again disappeared before they could be released. The two sat in a severe silence for a few minutes before Alfons smirked menacingly and gently ran his fingers over Winry's midriff. Winry began to giggle uncontrollably and tried to push him away, but to no avail. Alfons continued the tickle attack for at least half an hour; watching as Winry's beautiful blue eyes sparkled each time she let out a laugh. He knew that sparkle was rare, and would soon succumb to a false smile and her eyes would become a dull gray. She was so broken when he had found her collapsed on his front porch bleeding profusely. She'd only said one thing to him before crumpling into an unconscious heap of helplessness. Al smiled, thinking of how attached to her he was now. He had fallen; fallen hard for her, and she claimed to feel the same way, but every time he looked her way, she was lost in the clouds. It was almost as if she was trying to remember something that once was. Al sighed and let her continue her distant thoughts. Those were the only times she'd truly smile, as she stared at the abyss outside of her dirty window.

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"Mr. Elric, we've arrived," a gruff military voice stated as he shook a groggily Edward awake. Quickly remembering his mission and dire curiosity about the attempted human alchemy, Edward quickly pulled himself up and hurriedly made his way off the train. Ed's two operatives, Armstrong and Hawkeye, carefully led Ed down a dirt road towards the sleepy town of Risembool. Ed sighed nonchantily, letting his anxiousness and curiosity overwhelm him.

"So…"he said casually as he twiddled with his thumbs, "Do we have ANY information on who this might be?"

"Your guess is as good as ours, Edward," Hawkeye replied solemnly. As little as she knew about alchemy, she knew that a human transmutation was serious stuff, and whoever attempted it was as good as dead. Edward realized this too, Hawkeye acknowledged, but being the stubborn boy he was, he refused to put on a caring act. She knew it was also difficult for Edward to return to such memories. Though he absolutely never spoke of that chapter in his life, Hawkeye knew it was always eating away at him. Whether his staring off in the distance with no clear expression or ranting and raving about something trivial, it was always on his mind. Hawkeye sighed, locking her thoughts away for the time's being. Right now, there was a case to investigate.

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"Stupid brother…" Al sighed angrily as he freely roamed the streets of Central City, Amestris, attempting to release a bit of his pent-up anger. In Al's opinion, Ed had made quite a few stupid decisions, and Al was sick of them. His nii-san was supposedly a genius, considered a child prodigy or some sort of miraculous person, yet he couldn't even show his true emotions. Instead, he used others to shield his true self from the world, adding even more of a coated shell his existence. Al was the only one that showed the emotion, an idiotic feat in itself since Al couldn't truly show emotions anyways.

"I lost THAT ability quite some time ago, but stupid nii-san can still laugh, still smile, still cry…still love…" Al sighed angrily once more, so lost in his own thoughts that he ran straight into…

"Rose?" he asked quickly, helping the girl to her feet.

"Hey Al," Rose said nonchantily almost as if she'd categorized the Elrics in a forgotten and unimportant file in her life. She flauntishly flipped her hair and gave Al a self-absorbed look.

"Hey…I'd love to talk, but I have other places to be," she said boredly as she turned to leave. Al quickly placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"Rose," he said solemnly, "What did you do to Brother?"

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Edward Elric continued to follow his two guards as they continued making their way through Risembool. Gray clouds hung overhead and a dim and empty mood surrounded the lazy town. Edward and Armstrong waited wile Hawkeye got directions to the dreaded house awaiting them.

"It's right up the road," Hawkeye said blankly before looking down; almost as if hiding something she'd found out. Ed, lost in his own thoughts, didn't seem to take notice in Hawkeye's odd behavior as he rose to his feet and continued down the dusty road. Armstrong, on the other hand, did notice. He gave Hawkeye a questioning look and swore he could almost see tears shining in her reddish eyes as she turned away and followed Edward. She thanked the Lord that Edward was too lost in his thoughts to notice where exactly the three were heading.

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Winry flashed a smile at Alfons as they sat on the Ferris wheel at Oktoberfest. Al smiled and put his arm around her, sighing sadly when she tensed up.

"What's wrong, Win?" he asked softly, but Winry didn't reply. That name. HE had called her that all of the time. It had been her favorite nickname because she always heard his voice when it was repeated. Al coughed deeply, pulling Winry from her deep thoughts. Quietly, she laid her head on Al's shoulder and smiled.

"So what now Mr. Alfons Heidrich?" she said playfully. She was tired of waiting for someone who wasn't coming home. She wasn't even home anymore. She wasn't going to waste her life with wishes that Ed would love her like she loved him. She was ready to move on to someone who actually gave a shit about her, and as she looked into the eyes of her new love, she actually hung on to the thought that she could push a certain alchemist out of her heart and mind forever.

As the thoughts dwindled, Alfons ridded them by pulling her into a deep and passionate kiss, using his tongue to control hers. She accepted the kiss hungrily, acting as if she'd been waiting for love her whole life. And she had.

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"Your brother?" Rose repeated, acting as if she recalled no memory of him. She put a finger to her mouth and pondered for a second longer. "I give up. What did I do to him?"

Al sighed. He figured that Ed must have done something to make Rose mad enough that she would reject him so fully.

'_But why would he be so upset if he's the one that got rid of her?' _he wondered oddly "Look," he said finally when her foot tapping began to give even his soul a headache, "Something had to occur between you and my brother, Edward Elric. You were both dating and in love and suddenly he won't talk and you act like you have no clue what's going on!!!"

"Oh!" she exclaimed sarcastically, "I kicked him to the curb about a week ago…"

"WHAT! WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT!?!"

"You don't have to get mood," she said coolly, "I did it because he was a no good, boring, distant, annoying person, and I told him that too," se finished flatly as if she were bored with the whole conversation. Al was purely shocked. He stood silently, not making any movement. Rose looked at the ground, a bit of guilt actually washing over her.

"He seemed dead. It wasn't me he needed," and with that she turned and walked away, leaving Al to ponder that one truthful sentence.

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Hawkeye stopped in front of a home that Armstrong knew all too well. He gave his subordinate a questioning look and she nodded, confirming his worst fear. Edward, who at some point had fallen behind, looked at the ground still paying no attention to his surroundings. Armstrong glanced back towards Hawkeye with small tears and an angry glare in his shining eyes. Hawkeye faced the ground guiltily before calling on Edward to hurry up. Edward then looked up and saw that they had stopped in front of none other tan the house of Winry Rockbell.

"Why'd we stop here? I don't need any maintenance or anything," Edward said simple as he yawned.

"It's…well…" Armstrong started gently.

"We aren't here for maintenance, we're here for an investigation," Hawkeye said sternly as she avoiding eye contact with the young alchemist. Edward stood puzzled in front of the two, trying to wrap his mind around what he had just been told. About a minute later, it hit him.

"WINRY!!!!!" he called, falsely believing what wasn't was as he quickly burst through the front door. Is heart was pounding so quickly that it was as if it wasn't even beating. His palms were sweating as if the room was a thousand degrees. He could never remember feeling such fear and actually had to keep himself from passing out as he carefully scanned every crevice of the first floor for his childhood friend.

He eagerly dashed up the stairs, the extent of the panic increasingly rushing through him. He almost crashed into the door of her room, which happened to be closed. _'Odd…'_ he thought calmly, trying to cease the pounding in his chest. He slowly reached for the silver knob and found it quite cold, a feeling almost preparing him for what came next.

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The gate was swallowing her into a black pit of nothing. She screamed, but no one came to her rescue. She was all alone and no one cared anymore. That's when the pain returned. "EDWARD!" she called out before waking to a cold sweat. She slowly pulled herself up and looked around the room curiously, momentarily forgetting about the new world. For merely an instant, she was home again and everything was all right. The guilt of what she had done wasn't strangling her and there was someone who cared.

Then reality hit her hard. Den was gone. Al was at home. Ed didn't love her. It all rushed back as se once more attempted to push it away desperately. She looked to her side and saw Alfons sleeping peacefully, his shadowed chest softly moving up and down in a glorious rhythm. Winry remembered her promise to live in the now as she gently laid her head on Al's chest. He subconsciously wrapped an arm around her as she cried herself to sleep, living in a memory of nothing.

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It wasn't real. It couldn't be. Noting in front of him was the truth. It was a nightmare, and if he'd just give it a few minutes, he'd awaken wit her in his arms. _'It has to be a nightmare'_ he thought to himself desperately as he dared to take a step into the chaotically calm room of Winry Rockbell. Strewn on the floor, there were countless alchemy books; all stained in dried blood. The floors and walls were stained with messy notes and circles. Edward gaped at the scene, shock holding onto him tightly and grabbing onto his stomach. He couldn't even begin to explain the horror running trough his veins right then. He was devastated, almost willing to clap his hands together and join her. His life suddenly felt meaningless and he just wanted to be alone. He hated himself at that moment; hated himself enough to do something extremely stupid.

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Al was suddenly overcome with an odd feeling. His soul suddenly felt tingly. He opened his eyes and saw millions of pictures flash before him before seeing Ed getting pulled into a gigantic haunting gate.

"BROTHER!" Al screamed desperately. "BROTHER!!!!!" Suddenly, the gate closed and all went black.

Al awoke to a salty taste in is mouth as e reached up and wiped the staling tears from his soft cheeks. E stopped suddenly and dashed to a nearby mirror to see that he had no more than regained what he had originally lost. His ecstatic smile of joy lit up the room; shining from being locked away for too long. Al then wondered why he was crying and decided it must have been a reaction to something petty.

'_Now all I have to do is wait for Brother to get home! He'll be so excited!'_ Al thought to himself, naïve to the truth…or rather ignoring it.

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Edward floated through nothing; lost in an unknown abyss. E was so at peace with himself that he even caught himself smiling. He didn't remember the gate being this way, but he had no idea where else he could be. The peace was amazing, but pain quickly accumulated in his heart causing the creamy abyss to turn a sullen black. He felt himself stop floating as he lay suspended in midair for less than a second before falling into an endless pit of absolutely nothingness. It was as if he was in an escapeless nightmare from which he couldn't awaken. He fell for what felt like hours, wanting to scream but no sound escaping his mouth. Suddenly, the ground collided with his body and all went black.

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Alphonse sat silently beside Winry on the side of the bed; bother feeling awkward from their previous argument. Al finally looked over to Winry.

"You'll never say yes, will you? There's someone else. Someone you love. I'm just his replacement. I'm just another face. Am I right?" his words were soft, containing no anger, but soaked in heart wrenching pain. He knew the truth and it stabbed through Winry like a sharp dagger. She didn't mean to hurt Alfons, but her love for Edward refused to cease. It drove her mad. She wanted to forget him. She wanted to cease living in his memory, but she was crazy for him. She wanted him more than life itself; she needed him more than air. Alfons looked to her sympathetically.

"What's his name? He asked softly.

"Edward," she answered instantly, almost as if blocking all of her emotions from the world, but the tears welling up in her eyes were too many and the pain in her heart went too deep. She gently leaned on Al's chest and cried endless and messy sobs as he wrapped his arms around her and comforted her through his own pain. When her crying had finally ceased, he gently lifted her face until their eyes met.

"Now...can I hear the truth?" he asked softly as she nodded and slowly began the long story from the beginning.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/n: Wow…rereading this helps me remember how sucky of a writer I am! Lol…well…here's another chappy as we are about two chapters away from the end. But I do have a few warnings for all of you. First of all, there will be lemonish things in upcoming chapters, but I have rated this story T so that tells you how severe it will become. Don't like lemon, then ditch my story. Sorry, but that's how I roll. Uhm next, as I have said almost 20 times, I wrote this story about 6 months ago and I'm just now rereading it. When I looked at the ending, I decided there were a few things that I wanted to change…thus the next few chapters may come a little more slowly…unless you all pester the crap out of me and then they might come sooner. Keep in mind, I have summer school for four and a half hours every day now (P.E. with an evil coach) so computer time is a delicacy, but if you guys really like this story, I'll try my best. If you have any suggestions about ways to go with the story or anything else, I'm glad to hear them! . And now…I shall shut my big yapper and you can read in peace…**

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"EDWARD!" Hawkeye yelled as she noticed a flash of light coming from an upstairs window. Knowing how desperate the teen would be after discovering the devastating truth, she rushed into the house praying that it wouldn't be too late. Armstrong followed close behind, quickly realizing what was occurring. The two dashed up the stairs and burst into the small bedroom of Winry Rockbell only to see the dying remnants of a transmutation and the calming movements of fluttering papers. Hawkeye collapsed to her knees, small quiet sobs coming from her hand-enclosed face. Armstrong felt tears leaking from his own eyes. The boy had been so young and traumatized in life. He didn't need this, but he didn't need death either.

Everything would be different without him. How would they tell Roy? How would they tell Al? By the time Armstrong had emerged from his deeply depressing thoughts, he noticed that it was beginning to get dark and that Lieutenant Hawkeye had fallen into a deep and haunted sleep at his feet. He slowly bent down and carefully lifted her from the cold and stiff ground. He knew they needed to get back to Central as soon as possible and there was no way around it, so he steadily began walking towards the nearby train station as clouds rumbled above him and the sleeping woman he carried.

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Winry stayed in bed that day. She couldn't cease the thoughts running through her fragile mind. She could still remember the tone of Alfons's voice.

_'A world where alchemy conquered over physics and a fairly peaceful country that's run by the military? he half scoffed, almost laughing. "I think you might have hit you head too hard that night."_

Winry sighed as the memories faded. She lay alone in the house now; silence engulfing her. Maybe Alfons was right. Maybe that world had never existed and she was merely confused. Maybe it had all been a dream, her own little alternate universe. A parallel world. _'What about Edward?'_ she thought slowly, _'was he a dream as well? Or was he a real being...I can almost feel his touch...'_ and with these final thoughts, Winry drifted into an uneven and restless sleep.

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"Mustang speaking,"

"Sir...there's been an accident and a life has been lost..."

"IS RIZA OKAY?!!?"

"Yes," Armstrong said softly, as to not awaken the sleeping Riza in his arms.

"Do I even know the person?!?!" Roy asked angrily; tired of playing guessing games with serious situations. Had it been a civilian? An eastern military officer? Who the hell-

"Edward..." the word brought Mustang out of his long chain of thoughts.

"What?" he asked, sure he had misheard.

"We lost Edward..."

Mustang was in so much shock that it almost hurt. Edward had been like a son to him. He just couldn't grasp the boy being gone. The phone slowly slipped from his hand and crashed to the floor. Havoc, Breda, Falman, and Fuery rushed into the room, expecting a surprise attack. Instead, they found an odder sight. Mustang sat at his desk with his head in his hands.

"Sir?" Havoc asked curiously.

"Edward died," was Mustang's simple, yet pain filled, reply.

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Winry awoke to a rushed voice outside of her room. Slowly, she managed to pull herself out of bed to investigate the odd noises. Curiosity overcoming her, she threw on some clothes and ran into the hallway just in time to see Al sadly closing the door to the guest room.

"What's going on?" she asked simply, pulling him out of her thoughts. Al smiled sadly and looked her way.

"We found a boy about our age today. He was almost dead in the streets. He looked like he'd been mugged and someone had pushed his head into the ground. The only source of identification was a weird watch with symbols I've never seen. I can't make heads or tails of this guy, and now we're going to have to take care of him."

"No," said a voice from the now-open door of the guest bedroom, "I'll leave. I need to search for someone anyways."

"But you're injured!!!"

"I'll be fine..."

Winry stood in shock as she stared gapingly at the young teenager in the red coat and braided blond hair. It took what seemed to her to be forever before she gathered her thoughts enough to figure out who was standing directly in front of her.

"E...Edward?" she finally asked with shock dripping in her voice. He turned to respond to the question only to find that the object of his desire, Winry Rockbell, was standing directly in front of him.

"Winry...I-"

Winry's hand immediately collided with Ed's shocked face. "EDWARD YOU ASSHOLE!!!"

"What the hell?!?" Edward yelled angrily staring at his blond haired blue-eyed childhood friend with pure confusion.

"What the hell are you doing here?!?!"

"I came to say...I love you, but apparently it doesn't matter," and with that Edward ran out the front door, blood still dripping from his wounds.

"EDWARD!!!" Winry called out desperately, attempting to run after her love. Alfons suddenly stopped her.

"Don't pursue him. He's most likely already dead. It's less than two degrees out there and he has some serious wounds."

"No," Winry said solemnly as she broke from Alfons's arms and ran into the cold night in merely a nightgown and bare feet.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/n: Well…second to last chapter…if I don't get reviews then I won't finish it…so yeah. Oh and by the way, you people who don't even like FMA that are story alerting me need to bug off…and that's a nice way of saying it…now…onward to the story…**

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Al stood in front of Roy Mustang's desk; waiting for the Colonel to tell him the important news. As Roy looked up, he was shocked to see an odd-looking boy facing him.

"W...who the hell are you?!?!?" Mustang stammered nervously; caught off guard by the young intruder. The boy laughed.

"It's me, Sir, Alphonse Elric!" he replied joyously.

"A..Al?" the Colonel questioned. Of course, it made sense. When Ed died, the gate had taken him as payment for Al's body and mind. Since Edward was gone, Al could live a normal life without ever worrying about irregularity again. Roy noticed that this meant that Edward had wanted to take care of unfinished business before going after the fallen Winry.

"Sir?" Al said questionably, bringing the Colonel out of his long chain of logical thoughts.

"Alphonse..." Roy said slowly, as if trying to beat around the bush as long as possible. He looked up at the boy again; this time tears welling up in his almost black eyes. Al's smile quickly faded.

"What's wrong, Sir?" he asked curiously.

"Al...I have some news for you. Pinako died. Winry then attempted human transmutation and followed in her grandmother's footsteps." Al began to cry before Roy could even finish. Awkwardly, he pulled the child into a reassuring hug. How was he supposed to tell Al about his beloved older brother? He was already heartbroken with the information he had. Roy looked down as Al wiped his tears.

"Where's Nii-san?" Al asked softly, sadness lingering on his lips. Pain welled up in Mustang's chest as he bore his eyes into the ground. As much as he tried, he couldn't find the words to say.

"Al..." he said again, still trying to make sense of the jumbled words in his mind.

"NO!" Al yelled desperately, "DON'T TELL ME NII-SAN'S GONE, TOO!! HE CAN'T DIE! HE CAN'T-"Alphonse fell to the ground as the world faded to black.

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Winry continued to run until she tripped and landed on top of a very cold Edward, tears leaking from her vibrant blue eyes. She expected Edward to push her off after the horrible way she had treated him. He hadn't meant bad...she hoped, and to her surprise, the hazel eyed teenager gingerly wrapped his arms around her chilling body.

"I couldn't imagine life without you by my side. I'm so sorry if I ever hurt you. That was the furthest away from my intentions. I-" He was cut off as Winry placed her finger to his lips.

"Edward," she said seductively, "hold me forever and never let go."

With that, Edward pulled her into a passionate kiss; love vibrating from one soul to another. He gently flicked his tongue across her lips; begging for entrance as her lips parted in acceptance. He took that opportunity to dive in, exploring every crevice and memorizing the sweet taste. Winry moaned into his mouth, enjoying the beautiful rapture of passion the two were sharing. As the cold winds raged around them, the fire inside their hearts heated their bodies to the point that a lighted circle formed around them and they began to disintegrate into another dimension. Notice they did not, for they were incredibly focused on pleasing each other.

As they broke the dimension's barrier, they found themselves bare in a beautiful mountainous field with blooming flowers and buzzing bees, a connection of life that they were about to confirm. Winry couldn't wait any longer as she literally pounced upon Edward and sent the two rolling down a small hill into a clear lake, their lips never losing contact. As their bodies penetrated the surface, he thrust himself into her; her scream drowned out by the strong barriers of the heavenly water. Two became one in merely seconds as the united shared each other to create new life. It was all a part of a miraculous stream of life that ended and began in the unknown. It was the adventure of exploring the one person that truly sets your heart on fire, the one person whose eyes can bore through your very soul. It was the beauty of living and dying and loving and losing and life shared in one bonding truth. It was Edward and Winry; soul mates truer than truth itself.

As he penetrated deeper, they both felt themselves reaching an intense but Heavenly climax to their littler excursion. Just as he reached the peak, they found themselves colliding with the floor of Winry's bedroom; both exhausted from their life changing "journey" as they momentarily forgot what had just occurred. Suddenly, the thought hit Ed, causing him to remember every strict and glorious detail.

"Winry..." he said suddenly, "I'm so sorry...I-" But he was cut off by Winry cuddling closer to him and resting her head on his well-define chest.

"I love you, Edward," she mumbled with a smile before drifting into a peaceful sleep. Edward pulled her closer and closed his eyes with a satisfied smirk.

"I love you too, Winry...and I promise I'll never leave you again," and with that, he fell into an undisturbed sleep of his own.


End file.
